Last Vegas’s Jerry Ferrara on Being Knocked Out by Robert De Niro: “He’s Who I Would Pick to Beat Me Up”

Since HBO’s beloved series Entourage ended two years ago, we’ve seen a bit less Turtle (otherwise known as actor Jerry Ferrara) than we would like. But all that’s about to change: before the end of the year, we’ll see him not once but twice on the big screen. First up: Last Vegas, in which he acts alongside some of the most legendary names in the business; Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Kline, and Michael Douglas are amongst his co-stars. Then a role opposite Mark Wahlberg in the upcoming war movie Lone Survivor.

We called the New York native to chat about his debaucherous Vegas memories, being beaten up by Robert De Niro, and getting the Entourage gang back together for next year’s spinoff movie. Highlights from our chat:

The Hollywood Blog: How are you?

Jerry Ferrara:I’m actually heading to the airport, and I left my license behind. So I literally have my mom driving from Brooklyn to the airport to meet me so I can get on this flight.

No matter what age you are, your mom will always be a mom.

It’s ridiculous. I was like, Mom! I need help! I left it at a dirty meathead gym that I was working out at when I was visiting them earlier this week. So she’s en route. Help is on the way.

Tell me what it was like acting alongside such huge names in Last Vegas.

The leadoff to it was the most insane part. There are nerves. I tend to sometimes think of worst-case scenarios. Worst-case scenario, I get fired in front of my heroes. I played that situation out in my mind. I thought, O.K., well, I could just lie and tell my friends it wasn’t my fault. I was thinking of all the ways I could put disclaimers out. But once you get there, there is that first moment of Holy Jesus. I can’t believe it’s these four guys. But the god’s honest truth, they brought me over and in 10 minutes they’re asking me questions. They made the whole thing very normal.

So there’s a scene where Robert De Niro knocks you out. What was that like?

No actor ever wants to get beat up. You want to be the guy that’s kicking someone’s ass. But what a guy to get to do it [with]. If they gave me my choice of anyone in the world, acting wise, he’s who I would pick to beat me up. It was really funny at points when we were shooting—he was really concerned. Because I have to fall and sell the punch. And he’d say, Your shoelaces are untied. You don’t want to trip over your shoes.

Between this, episodes of Entourage and Think Like a Man, you’ve spent a lot of time in Las Vegas. I know that what happens there is supposed to stay there, but do you have any great memories that you can share?

I believe on the eve of my 21st birthday I was in L.A., I was out with friends and we waited until the clock struck midnight and we drove to Vegas when I was officially 21. It was kind of the hangover moment—and I didn’t black out, I have memories—we woke up and we had a kitchen table. I woke up on the kitchen table. You know the chairs you sit on when you’re playing blackjack? Somehow, we ended up with two of those in our room. When we went to drive home, not one of us had a dollar in our pocket and I had to literally go into overdraft on my debit card to get gas money. I remember pulling up to the pump to fill up the tank and I was like, I don’t have any money. And my friends were like, I got nothin’. I think we must have had a total of four dollars in cash. Good times!

Vegas will do it to you.

It definitely will. Vegas keeps a little part of you, whether it’s financial or physical.

Tell me a little bit about that experience. You’re going to be doing this all again in a month!

Again, in both of these projects—there’s definitely some humility—I’m a small part of a much bigger picture. But Lone Survivor even more so. I was actually shooting both of these at the same time. I went from Vegas—this light, comedic, fun experience—to New Mexico, where it was Mark, Emilie Hirsch, Ben Foster, all of those guys had been there for weeks. They hadn’t had a beer, it was cold, it was a rough shoot and it’s an intense movie. It’s based on real-life events, real-life Navy Seals who are heroes. There’s a lot of tragedy in the story. It was really a great learning experience as an actor. You’ve got to be able to turn it off and turn it on. Lone Survivor is just epic. It’s Pete Berg at his best. It’s massive. You’re going to walk out of there and your heart will be pounding. You’re going to bug out.

Finally, the Entourage movie is officially a go. Are you getting ready to get back into the shoes of Turtle?

It all kind of hit me on Monday. I was sitting at a bar watching Monday-night football with friends when I got the call that it was a done deal. And it kind of hit me like, Oh shit, I’ve gotta put this Yankee hat back on. And it’s been a minute. It’s not going to be hard, but it’s going to be like saying hello to an old friend that I haven’t seen in a while.